Black in Period Films

The upcoming Netflix series titled, Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker   is based on the book, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles.  On Her Own Ground is the first full-scale, definitive biography of Madam C. J. Walker—the legendary African American entrepreneur and philanthropist—by her great-great-granddaughter, A'Lelia Bundles. The daughter of slaves, Madam C. J. Walker was orphaned at seven, married at fourteen and widowed at twenty. She spent the better part of the next two decades laboring as a washerwoman for $1.50 a week. Then—with the discovery of a revolutionary hair care formula for black women—everything changed. By her death in 1919, Walker managed to overcome astonishing odds: building a storied beauty empire from the ground up, amassing wealth unprecedented among black women and devoting her life to philanthropy and social activism. Along the way, she formed ...

William Kinsolving’s book The Rhinelander Affair is being adapted to the big screen. The book follows the controversial 1925 Rhinelander v. Rhinelander divorce trial. The project is being produced by Mark and Christine Holder, Octavia Spencer, Queen Latifah,  and Shakim Compere’s Flavor Unit Entertainment and Dave Broome. Spencer and Latifah will act as producers. Rhinelander v. Rhinelander was a divorce case between Kip Rhinelander and Alice Jones. Rhinelander was an American socialite from the socially prominent and wealthy New York City Rhinelander family. His marriage to Alice Jones, a biracial woman from a working-class family made national headlines in 1924. The couple was able to hide their marriage for a while, but once the media caught wind of their marriage they began looking into who Alice Jones was. That is when it was discovered that she was born to a white mother and ‘mulatto’ father. Rhinelander stood by Alice’s side until his family threatened to disinhe...

The 2018 Academy Award nominations were announced to much fanfare. There are three period projects with Black characters that were nominated. Mudbound was nominated for best screenplay. This nomination is excitingly groundbreaking! Congrats to our Adapted Screenplay nominees! #Oscars #OscarNoms pic.twitter.com/8BBhPBlB3r — The Academy (@TheAcademy) January 23, 2018 Mighty River from Mudbound and This is Me from The Greatest Showman were nominated for best original song. Congrats to our Original Song nominees! #Oscars #OscarNoms pic.twitter.com/jg6DL6gD5u — The Academy (@TheAcademy) January 23, 2018 Both Mary J. Blige and Octavia Spencer were nominated as best supporting actress for their respective roles in Mudbound and The shape of Water. This is Spencer's third nomination; tying her with Viola Davis. Congrats to our Supporting Actress nominees! #Oscars #OscarNoms pic.twitter.com/svIDSk8I6V — The Academy (@TheAcademy) January 23, 2018 My Nephew Em...

We previously posted about this limited series featuring Octavia Spencer  here and here on our tumblr page. Now that we are getting even more information I think it is the perfect time to post something about this exciting project here. Picture Source According to Variety the series is going to be picked up by Netflix; as they showed interest in it. The series is based on the book “On Her Own Ground” which was written by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles. Bundles is also serving as a consultant on the series, which is very encouraging. With James’ production company (SpringHill Entertainment) producing it things are looking good for this series. Netflix hasn't made a comment, but I'll update if they do. I must say that I LOVE the casting of Spencer as Walker, and can't wait to see her in the amazing outfits.

And the WINNERS are ... Drum Roll Please! Denzel Washington won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for “Fences.” The cast of “Hidden Figures” won for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Viola Davis won Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for “Fences.”

After watching Hidden Figures my older sister and I decided we could best express our excitement over the film with an audio review. We were tired and not on our game 100% but I think this review captures how we felt right out of the theater. Re-recording it would have taken some of the 'umph' out of our review. We plan on doing more audio reviews on films that we watch together. Enjoy! Just some of the many amazing costumes! The actors and the real women!      Film Details:  Hidden Figures (2016) Rated PG  Genre : Drama film/Comedy-drama  Running Time : 2h 7m Synopsis :Three brilliant African-American women at NASA -- Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) -- serve as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation's confidence, turned a...

    The trailer for the Hidden Figures film. Hidden Figures is about NASA mathematicians Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) as they work together to help launch astronaut John Glenn into outer space.  I love this trailer. I can't find anything that I would consider a flaw. It gave me everything that I want out of a period film. Beautiful and accurate costumes, great acting, and romance. We all know Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer will be wonderful. However, it was interesting to see Janelle Monae in an acting role and I believe she will be amazing. I'll be watching this film in theaters come January 2017. What do you think about the trailer?